The January@Brown program could be threatened by insufficient participation, according to Dean of Summer and Continuing Studies Karen Sibley MAT'81 P'07 P'12. Tuition increases, the need to double the enrollment and the continued lack of credit offered are some factors contributing to concerns about low participation and the fate of the program, she said.
January@Brown, a three-year pilot program started in 2007, offers non-credit courses for 10 days in between the holidays and the beginning of the second semester.
University subsidies for the program were only for the initial two years, so tuition will jump almost 50 percent to $900 and will need about 50 students to break even this year -- twice the enrollment of last year, Sibley said.
In an attempt to broaden the program's appeal, the College Curriculum Council voted to support a proposal granting half credits for January@Brown courses, but there was opposition to that move and to a move to mention courses on transcripts, said Arthur Matuszewski '11, a CCC member. He said there was concern with among the administration with the inconsistency of acknowledging these January@Brown courses but not academic experiences such as semesters abroad on transcripts.
There was also concern credit would encourage students to participate in the program for the wrong reasons, said Matuszewski, an associate editor for post-, The Herald's arts and culture magazine.
There is currently "no consensus" within the CCC for continuing efforts to get January@Brown on transcripts, said Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, chair of the council, who initially supported half-credits.
Many students voiced concern that the change would affect the explorative academic environment of the program, both Bergeron and Sibley said.
Some other institutions with winter break programs offer credit. Williams College has featured a mandatory, three-week, for-credit Winter Study with grades of fail, perfunctory pass, pass and high pass. The program is intended to allow "a student to concentrate for one month on a single subject in ways not usually found in a traditional curriculum," according to Williams' Web site.
Brown's program is considered especially attractive to international students who cannot return home over winter break and mid-year transfers who would like to acquaint themselves with Brown, Sibley said.
Veiko Aunapuu '11 of Estonia decided not to enroll in January@Brown this past winter, opting instead to work for the admissions office. He said credit would not encourage him to participate in the future.
Katie Jennings '10.5 attended January@Brown last year as an incoming transfer student. She said she enjoyed her class on the history of Providence's neighborhoods and relished the opportunity to acquaint herself with Brown and the city. She added that she would recommend the program, "especially to transfer students," but that she would like to have received a half credit, noting that students put in more than half a credit's worth of hours.
This is the "last chance" for the student body to display their interest in the program, said Tyler Rosenbaum '11, Undergraduate Council of Students academic and administrative affairs chair, and a Herald opinions columnist.
"I would push for a transcript mention next year" if enrollment proved higher than expected, Rosenbaum said.
Regardless of January@Brown's fate, the Office of Summer and Continuing Studies would like to offer students opportunities for productive winter breaks in the future, Sibley said. She said proposals include the creation of an alumni network connecting students with short internships and "travel learning" in which small groups of students travel with a faculty member in an informal academic setting.
Aunapuu said the idea of travel learning "definitely sounds interesting" and that he welcomes any chance to see more of North America.
Support for the program has yet to translate into participation, according to Dean Sibley, adding that now is the time for students to "vote with their feet."
